Does anyone have a clue as to what these are??

Question

I have no idea what this bug is but my puppy has been bitten more then a couple of times by these vicious 1/4" black, hard-shelled, oval/round shaped body, 6-legged bug along the grass in NJ. Hard-shelled and flat like an unfed tick but all black. Also, the body seemed more oval like - not interrupted with a beady little tick head and the legs were evenly distributed around the body -not 4 in front 2 in back. we really had to pry the creature off - it left little blood marks were it sat on the fur/skin.... does anyone have a clue as to what they are???

Answer 1

It certainly sounds like a tick. There are many kinds of ticks. They don't all look like the common dog tick. Ticks are quite species-specific, but many of them will feed on unusual hosts when their usual hosts are not available. It might be some sort of rodent or rabbit tick for example. The only other organisms that have the form and habits you describe are mites, but 1/4" would be huge for a mite. Does your puppy have a flea and tick collar?